2European Centre on Health of Societies in Transition, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London WC1H 9SH, UK

3Department of Health Sciences, University of York, York YO10 5DD, UK

4ASH Action on Smoking and Health, London E1 6JE

5Department for Health, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, UK

6Institute for Social Marketing and the Centre for Tobacco Control Research, University of Stirling and the Open University, Stirling FK9 4LA, UK

7Department of Primary Care and Public Health Sciences, King’s College London School of Medicine, London SE1 3QD, UK

8BMA, London WC1H 9JP, UK

thomas.yates{at}medsci.ox.ac.uk

In discussing whether the UK is turning the clock back on public health advances,1 the fact that the coalition government is considering mandatory plain brown packets for cigarettes is encouraging.2 However, this move, which may get held up in the courts, must not delay implementing …